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Content curation is the hottest topic among marketers these days, but few companies understand what content curation is and how it can help build a brand and a business.

In simplest terms, content curation is a form of content marketing where a publisher (in this case, a small business) editorially collects the best content related to a specific niche and targeted to a specific audience then enhances that content by adding personal opinions and expertise. That enhanced content delivers added value to the target audience who consumes it after it’s published.

There are three key terms in the above definition that make content curation different from the systemic aggregation and syndication of content and links that has been popular in the recent past -- editorially-selected, enhanced, and added value. Well-executed content curation isn’t just a regurgitation of content that was already published but rather a personalized retelling of a story. The human element of content curation is what makes curated content compelling.

Therefore, when you develop a content curation plan for your business, prioritize the human element of your efforts and make sure you’re always adding value. Here are five ways to curate content as part of your content marketing strategy:

1. Curate Images and Video

Since Pinterest launched, image and video curation and sharing has become one of the most popular online activities. Create a Pinterest account and set up pinboards that help to tell your brand story. Curate images from across the web, repin other users’ pins, and enable audiences to experience your brand visually.

Apu Gupta, founder of Curalate.com, a tool that enables brands to measure and monitor their social curation presence on Pinterest, suggests three things businesses should do on Pinterest:

Be authentic. Invest in a brand back story and communicate it visually.

Be consistent. Curate content that relates to your brand story and personality.

Publish fresh and pinnable content. Remember that a lot of brand engagement on Pinterest happens because of a brand website, so encourage pinning, add a Pin It button on your website, and make it easy for people to pin your content.

2. Curate an Online Magazine

Use one of the free content curation tools that make it easy to create an online magazine related to your industry or topic of your choice. Be sure to curate content that your target audience will find value in, or they won’t read it. Tools like Storify, Paper.li, and Scoop.it make it easy to editorially select content for your online magazine.

Burt Herman, co-founder of Storify, explains, “Great curation tells a story and takes you through an experience. You’re creating something better by putting the parts together. Curation is about humans. It’s about thinking of the audience and giving them something they want to see.”